Sports pants reducing slippage with a bicycle seat

ABSTRACT

Sports pants reducing slippage with a bicycle seat by providing non-slip material projections in outwardly facing portions configured to make contact with a bicycle seat while a user is exercising by peddling the bicycle, including while lifting weights or doing arm or other exercises, and methods of reducing slippage.

FIELD

This patent specification pertains to sports garments that include pants and are specifically designed for use when exercising on a bicycle such as a stationary bicycle.

BACKGROUND

When pedaling a bicycle such as stationary bicycle and at the same time doing other exercises such as lifting weights or doing arm movements, there often is disconcerting slippage relative to the bicycle seat that can interfere with balance and can even present a safety hazard.

Numerous vendors offer sports pants designed for pedaling bicycles, including stationary bicycles. Some of the sports pants have reinforced or padded seat areas to increase comfort but none have been identified that recognize or offer a solution to the slippage challenge. One example of a vendor offering sports cycling pants, some with reinforced or padded seat areas is the Giordana company (web site http://www.Giordanacycling.com). There also are numerous proposals for padding a bicycle seat for increased comfort (U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,760) and for non-slip portions of garments such as: (1) U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,537 proposing slip-resistant materials for zones other than pants seats and wear resistant material for other zones, (2) U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,950,013, 5,822,794, and 7,191,470 proposing applying frictional material to areas of an upper body garments to help the wearer carry heavy or slippery items or to make better contact with a football or the straps of an air tank carried on the back, (3) U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,538 proposing a high-friction pad to help carry a windshield, and (4) U.S. Pat. No. 6,610,382 proposing a special elastomer for a friction control article, e.g. a hand grip. The contents of the sited patents and web site are hereby incorporated by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the subject matter of this patent specification, specific examples of embodiments thereof are illustrated in the appended drawings. It should be appreciated that these drawings depict only illustrative embodiments, and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the scope of this patent specification or the appended claims. It should also be appreciated that components or stops illustrated in one of the drawings can be used together with or instead of components or steps illustrated in one or more other drawings within the scope of the disclosed embodiments. The subject matter hereof will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which;

FIG. 1 illustrates a back elevation of sports pants having an example of a non-slip material portion of a seat area.

FIG. 2 illustrates a section along a horizontal line of FIG. 1, showing an example of shapes of projections of non-slip material.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a pattern of elongated non-slip projections.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of non-slip material woven into fabric of a seat area of sports pants.

FIG. 5 is a partial view of contact between a seat area of sports pants provided with non-slip material and a seat of a bicycle.

SUMMARY

Disclosed is a garment such as sports pants particularly suited for use while exercising on a bicycle, such as a stationary bicycle, including while lifting weights or doing arm or other exercises. The pants have non-slip projections at outside areas configured to make contact with the bicycle seat to and possibly sides in a way that reduces slippage and promotes balance and safety.

Different configurations of the non-slip projections are described, including different shapes and spatial patterns of the projection, with some embodiments in which the projections are added on top of the pants material and some in which the projections are integrated into the pants material such as by weaving non-slip material into the pants fabric or knit.

Also described in a method of using non-slip garments such as garments that are or incorporate sports pants, long or short.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a garment that in this example comprises sports pants 10 for use by a person exercising on a bicycle. Pants 10 have a seat 12 matching in position the bicycle seat (illustrated in FIG. 5) and configured to reduce slippage between the person and the bicycle seat at areas of contact. To this end, in the illustrated example the pants seat 12 with an outside surface that includes an outwardly facing seat portion 14 with configured to contact the bicycle seat when the person is exercising on the bicycle. The pants seat portion 14 has a pattern of outward projections 16 made of a material having significantly higher coefficient of friction relative to the bicycle seat than the material of seat portion 14 that is between the projections or material at other outer surfaces of the pants. For example, the coefficient of friction between projections 16 and the bicycle seat is 1.2 times, or 1.5 times, or 2.0 time, or more, up to several times, that between the pants seat material that is between projections 16 and the bicycle seat. The projections can be made of a rubbery material such as natural rubber adhered to the outer side of seat portion 14, or other recognized non-slip material such as the materials discussed in the patents cited above and incorporated by reference, and can be adhered or otherwise secured to pants 10, also for example as discussed the cited patents. Projections 16 can be in a regular pattern, such as at uniform pitch in one or both orthogonal directions, or in an irregular pattern, such as with different pitch in one or more directions. Thus, the density of projections 16 per unit area of seat portion 14 can vary with position in the pattern of projections. Projections 16 can be uniform in shape, size, and coefficient of friction relative to the bicycle seat, or some or all can differ from each other in one or more of these characteristics. In the example of FIG. 1, projections 16 are in the form of generally round and rounded bumps that are uniform in size, shape, and coefficient of friction relative to the bicycle seat, but in other examples this need not be the case. The spacing between projections 16 in this example is greater than the size of the projections, but again this need not be the case in other embodiments.

The size and position of the pattern of projections 16 can be configured to generally match the expected area of contact between a person wearing pants 10 and the seat of a bicycle on which the wearer would exercise. Accordingly, there can be different patterns for different pants depending on the wearer's preference or shape of the bicycle seat the wearer intends to use.

In some embodiments, the pattern of projections 16 can be only at a seat area of pants 10. In other embodiments, if can extend into the crotch area, on the inner thigh side of the legs. Preferably, the pattern extends only partway into the crotch area, such as within a few inches from the seat.

FIG. 2 illustrates a section of the pattern of projections 16 taken along a horizontal line in FIG. 1. As illustrated, in this example projections 16 are rounded bumps facing away from pants seat 12, and are spaced by distances greater than the bump dimensions in the plane of pants seat 12.

FIG. 3 illustrates a pattern of projections 16 a that are elongated rather than being generally round as in the case of projections 16. The elongation can be in the head-to-toes direction of the wearer, or at some angle to that directions. In other respects projections 16 a can be the same or at least similar to projections 16, and can be in patterns and location on the pants that are the same or at least similar to the case of projections 16. While several rows of projections 16 a are illustrated, e.g., three rows each comprising several projections, in other embodiments a different number of rows can be used, each comprising a number of projections different from that illustrated in FIG. 3. As extreme cases, a single row of strip-shaped projections 16 a can be used, and only a single strip-like projection 16 a can be used per lateral side of pants seal 12.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment, in which non-slip projections 16 b are integrally formed in the material of pants seat 12. In this example, warp yarn 18 is made of the normal pants material but weft yarn 16 b is made of the non-slip material, so that the portions of weft yarn 16 b that are at the outside surface of seat 12 can serve the function of providing greater friction with the bicycle seat than other portions of seat 12. It is not necessary to make non-slip yarns 16 the only weft yarn in the portion of the seat configured to contact the bicycle seat. In some embodiments ever second weft yarn 20 can be made of the non-slip material, or every third, or fourth, etc., while the other weft yarns are made of the normal material for pants 10. Also, the weft yarns at seat 12 can extend in the head-toes direction, or in the left-right direction of the seat, or In another direction, so long as they provide the intended non-slip function relative to the bicycle seat. In an alternative embodiment, the weft yarns can be the normal pants material and the warp yarns or some of them can be the non-slip material.

A noted above, the non-slip projections need not be uniform in shape or size. Thus, the pattern 14 can comprise only one of projections 16, 16 a, and 16 b, or a mixture of projections 16 and 16 a, or 16 and 16 b, or 16 a and 16 b, or of all three of projections 16, 16 a, and 16 b.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of contact between pants 10 and a bicycle seat or saddle 22 of a bicycle 24 such as a stationary bicycle on which a person can exercise by peddling, lifting weights, and or arm or other movements. A pattern or projections 16 (or 16 a, or 16 b or a mixture of two or three kinds of the projections) extends to a contact area between the upper surface of bicycle seat 22 and a seat area of pants 10. In some embodiments, the projections also extend into the area of contact between sides of bicycle seat 22 and crotch areas of pants 10.

A method of reducing slippage between a person exercising on a bicycle and a seat of the bicycle, using one or more of the embodiments described above, comprises providing a garment that includes pants with a seat area having a pattern of non-slip material integrated into or adhered to a portion of the seat area, and configuring the pattern to match a seat of a bicycle so that a person wearing the pants and exercising on the bicycle would contact the bicycle seat with at least a part of said seat area of the pants, wherein said non-slip material has a higher coefficient of friction relative to other area of the pants to thereby reduce slippage in contact between the person exercising and the bicycle seat.

In each of the examples described in this patent specification, the non-slip material can be applied or secured to the fabric, knit, or other material of which the garment or most of the garment is made, but an alternative also is contemplated in which the non-slip material is in the form of a piece of fabric, knit, or other sheet-like material that is attached to the garment by adhesives and or mechanical means such as stitching or Velcro or other permanent or semi-permanent attachment techniques, and is made entirely or partly of non-sip material or has non-slip material attached or secured thereto as discussed above.

While several embodiments are described, it should be understood that the new subject matter described in this patent specification is not limited to any one embodiment or combination of embodiments described herein, but instead encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. In addition, while numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding, some embodiments can be practiced without some or all of these details. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, certain technical material that is known in the related art has not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the new subject matter described herein. It should be clear that individual features of one or several of the specific embodiments described herein can be used in combination with features or other described embodiments. Further, like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the new methods and systems described in this patent specification. Accordingly, the scope of this patent specification is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but instead is defined by the claims of a patent to issue thereon in light of their full scope of equivalents. 

1. A garment for use by a person exercising by pedaling a bicycle having a seat, wherein the garment has a seat matching the bicycle seat and configured to reduce slippage between the person and the bicycle seat at areas of contact, said garment comprising: exercise pants having a seat that includes a seat portion configured to contact the bicycle seat when the person is exercising on the bicycle; said seat portion of the exercise pants having outward projections made of a material having significantly higher coefficient of friction relative to the bicycle seat than other outer surfaces of the pants.
 2. The garment of claim 1 in which the projections are made of a rubbery material.
 3. The garment of claim 1 in which the projections are in a pattern in which the density of the projections per unit area of the seat portion varies with position in the pattern of projections.
 4. The garment of claim 1 in which the projections vary in their coefficient of friction relative to the bicycle seat with position in the pattern of projections.
 5. The garment of claim 1 in which the projections are bumps with spacing between the bumps greater then the sizes of the bumps.
 6. The garment of claim 1 in which the projections comprise elongated strips.
 7. The garment of claim 6 in which at least some of the strips are elongated in front-back or head-feet directions relative to the person wearing the pants.
 8. The garment of claim 1 in which the projections are portions of threads woven into or adhered to the material forming the pants seat.
 9. The garment of claim 1 in which the garment includes pants legs that are free of said projections below a crotch area.
 10. Sports pants comprising: a pants seat with an outside surface that includes an outwardly facing portion situated to contact a bicycle seat when a person wearing the pants is pedaling a bicycle; a pattern of non-slip material integrated into or adhered to said portion of the pants seat, said non-slip material reducing slippage in contact between a person wearing the pants and a seat of a bicycle on which the person is exercising compared with other portions of the pants that may contact the bicycle seat.
 11. The sports pants of claim 10 in which the non-slip material extends partway into a thigh area of the pants.
 12. The sports pants of claim 10 in which the non-slip area extends only partway into a thigh area of the pants.
 13. The sports pants of claim 10 in which the non-slip material is adhered to the pants.
 14. The sports pants of claim 10 in which the non-slip material is woven into the pants.
 15. The sports pants of claim 10 wherein said pattern is an irregular pattern, with difference between different areas of the pattern in one or more of spacing between projections, shape of projection, and material of the projections.
 16. The sports pants of claim 10 in which said pattern is a regular pattern in terms of spacing or the projections.
 17. The sports pants of claim 10 in which said pattern is a regular pattern in terms of the shapes of the projections.
 18. A method of reducing slippage between a person exercising on a bicycle and a seat of the bicycle comprising: providing a garment that includes pants with a seat area having a pattern of non-slip material integrated into or adhered to a portion of the seat area; and configuring the pattern to match a seat of a bicycle so that a person wearing the pants and exercising on the bicycle would contact the bicycle seat with at least a part of said seat area of the pants; wherein said non-sip material has a higher coefficient of friction relative to other area of tie pants to thereby reduce slippage in contact between the person exercising and the bicycle seat.
 19. The method of claim 18 in which the providing step comprises forming the pattern as an irregular pattern of said non-slip material at said seat area.
 20. The method of claim 18 in which the providing step includes extending said pattern into a crotch area of the pants. 